Nu-Cast Sentinel Steam Railcars x 2

[34016]

On 17/02/2023 at 22:18, Chas Levin said:

You've probably seen this thread too, which came from the earlier discussion but in case not, it has some more photos and discussion about some of the lining details:

 

Have you run it yet and if so, how does the Tenshodo perform?

I can't say I'm over happy with the performance yet. It takes full throttle to get them moving, but you can reduce that once there's a bit of momentum.

[34016]

The lining is now done, although it looks a bit ragged at the front, but that's only in the picture. Now starting to add the transfers.

[34016]

The non powered bogie is attached using a 7mm length of 3mm o/d, 2mm i/d tube as the pivot, washers to adjust the height and a nut to retain it all.

I've run two pieces of .7mm wire between the bogies to replace the temporary wiring. 

Fine flexible wire is then run to each bogie from the end of each wire.

[34016]

Both models have now had a coat of varnish and I'm now trying to make my own flush glaze. I've drawn all the window outlines in Autocad and printed it out. Clear acetate is taped over the print and I then cut out the windows with a scalpel. This didn't work very well as the acetate was too thin.

So I ordered some 1mm clear acrylic and its working better. More pics to follow.

[34016]

The glazing is now underway. The first picture shows the 1mm acrylic taped over the print prior to scoring. I started using a scalpel with a no 15 blade, but couldn't get the acrylic to snap along the lines, so I changed to a larger craft knife and it worked ok.

A little fettling was required to get the glazing in, I cut the pieces very slightly oversize. Its easier to trim them down than have them dropping through the opening. I'll go over the windows with gloss varnish, which will take away the superglue stains (I hope). 

The next pictures should be of two finished models.

[D5158]

Very envious of your workmanship.

[Chas Levin]

2 hours ago, 34016 said:

 

That looks absolutely gorgeous! The seats look a treat too, lovely job!

[34016]

So I haven't quite finished the railcars, so no pictures of them just yet. I have managed to sort out the running though. Although sluggish at first, once going they seem fine. In the meantime I've been experimenting with producing my own motor bogies. I've drawn them up in CAD with wheelbases 26mm, 28mm & 34mm, and ratios of 15:1 & 20:1. They will take different motor sizes, N20, N30, M30 & M50. I've made a mock up of a 28mm/20:1 bogie as below.

I'm going to get a few laser cut and I'll post pictures when I get them.

 

[34016]

The last job on the railcars is the grills over the windows at the non motor end. I had already drilled the holes prior to painting, so using a piece of paper over the holes I pierced the holes to make a template (they're all slightly different so I've got to do it four times). I then placed the paper on a piece of wood and, using a .5mm drill, I made some holes in the wood.

 

 

I then made the horizontal bars from .45mm wire and pushed them into the holes in the wood. I used .3mm wire for the vertical bars and soldered a piece centrally to the horizontal bars.

 

 Sorry its a bit blurred.

 

I then used a piece of 1mm square nickel silver to space the remaining vertical bars, soldering them in place.

 

 

Then it's just a case of trimming the ends and fitting them to the models.

 

 

The next pictures will definitely be of finished models!

 

[Chas Levin]

Another nice job, similar to your excellent step construction system: I shall take a leaf or two from your book in due course...

 

Regarding those steps, may I please ask, where did you obtain the 1mm and 2mm NS strip - I'm having difficulty sourcing it?

[34016]

On 18/03/2023 at 17:37, Chas Levin said:

Another nice job, similar to your excellent step construction system: I shall take a leaf or two from your book in due course...

 

Regarding those steps, may I please ask, where did you obtain the 1mm and 2mm NS strip - I'm having difficulty sourcing it?

Hi Chas, It was all left overs from various etchings that have accumulated over the years. 

[chris p bacon]

On 18/03/2023 at 17:37, Chas Levin said:

Regarding those steps, may I please ask, where did you obtain the 1mm and 2mm NS strip - I'm having difficulty sourcing it?

 

10 minutes ago, 34016 said:

Hi Chas, It was all left overs from various etchings that have accumulated over the years. 

 

Chas, I've got a lot of 1mm and possibly 1.5mm & 2mm NS & Brass strip from my etches, I can pop some in the post if required. .....I know where you are...😄

[41516]

On 18/03/2023 at 17:37, Chas Levin said:

where did you obtain the 1mm and 2mm NS strip - I'm having difficulty sourcing it?

 

Wizard Models do a pack with 1, 2 and 3mm strips in 0.010" NS,

 

https://www.wizardmodels.ltd/shop/tools/mt572/

[Chas Levin]

1 hour ago, 34016 said:

Hi Chas, It was all left overs from various etchings that have accumulated over the years. 

 

1 hour ago, chris p bacon said:

 

 

Chas, I've got a lot of 1mm and possibly 1.5mm & 2mm NS & Brass strip from my etches, I can pop some in the post if required. .....I know where you are...😄

 

1 hour ago, 41516 said:

 

Wizard Models do a pack with 1, 2 and 3mm strips in 0.010" NS,

 

https://www.wizardmodels.ltd/shop/tools/mt572/

 

Thank you 34016, Dave and 41516, very kind and very helpful! I'm impressed (and I feel a little lazy) that you're using etch offcuts - I too have some, but I'd assumed you were using pre-produced lengths!

The various offcuts I have are a bit variable in both width and thickness though - I don't have a decent amount of uniform pieces.

But: since posting this, I tried another look and found some at Hobby Holidays. So, I shall be being lazy and buying it, which will satisfy my slightly OCD-ish need to know that it's exactly 1mm or 2mm!

 

@41516, I saw the Wizard one and I have previously bought his brass version, I used some on a previous project, very useful but very thin and I thought it would be best to use something a little thicker for these steps.

 

@chris p bacon, Dave, thank you for offering to send some, very kind of you. Glad you put the smiley face after the "I know where you are..." though! 😁

[34016]

I've finally done the photos of the finished models and they will be on their way to their new home next week. I've done one with the front windows open and one with them shut.

 

In conclusion I think they've come out pretty well considering it's a kit that was developed in the Seventies. I wish I'd known about the etched sides and fronts that are available as I think they would have made things a lot easier. I don't know how long the tenshodo bogies will last due to the weight, they are sluggish to start, but do get going once they've warmed up a bit. I'm going ahead with the motor bogies kits mentioned earlier that will hopefully be better. More about that in another thread. I've enjoyed doing the thread and thank you to all who contributed and clicked the various buttons. My next thread will be a loco kit, not sure which one yet though.

 

34016

 

[Suffolk Dave]

They look fabulous! Thanks for sharing your 'work in progress' with us. I too have the Nu Cast kit sitting around, waiting for attention and I'll be dropping back into this thread to pick up some inspiration. 

[Chas Levin]

Superb results, both! As Suffolk Dave says, thank you for sharing the build and I too am already using this thread as a guide for the one I'm building...

[Flit]

I've really enjoyed this thread. Brilliant to see the highly professional step by step approach.

 

Nu cast Sentinel kits - built or unbuilt are very difficult, and increasingly expensive, to source and I'm a NER/LNER branchline person.. so the Sentinel railcar is essential for my modelling period. 

 

I have an old much bashed D89 Triang to rehab, though it is pretty accurate,  but this needs massive work to restore..

 

I like the 3D printed shells and want to build a "North Briton"  from one of these, but then completing the chassis, underframe and drive units, especially with ornamental bogie fronts is tricky for a well meaning amateur like me... 

 

I assume I can get Isinglass dwgs to show me what is needed underneath.. (any reference or index numbers going ) ?

 

but any advice on how to proceed would be gratefully received. 

 

[Chas Levin]

3 hours ago, Flit said:

I've really enjoyed this thread. Brilliant to see the highly professional step by step approach.

 

Nu cast Sentinel kits - built or unbuilt are very difficult, and increasingly expensive, to source and I'm a NER/LNER branchline person.. so the Sentinel railcar is essential for my modelling period. 

 

I have an old much bashed D89 Triang to rehab, though it is pretty accurate,  but this needs massive work to restore..

 

I like the 3D printed shells and want to build a "North Briton"  from one of these, but then completing the chassis, underframe and drive units, especially with ornamental bogie fronts is tricky for a well meaning amateur like me... 

 

I assume I can get Isinglass dwgs to show me what is needed underneath.. (any reference or index numbers going ) ?

 

but any advice on how to proceed would be gratefully received. 

 

Hello, yes, there's an Isinglass drawing of the Sentinel, it's "Loco Drawing - single sheet (4mm, 280-A)" and it's very useful.

 

I too have a Triang D89 which I intend to restore one day, but I'm unclear as to what you want to do: do you mean that you intend restoring the Triang to be a D89, or do you mean that you want to convert it into a Sentinel railcar instead?

[Flit]

My old Triang model had already been bashed to Sentinel D89, pretty accurately dimensionally, using lots of odd bits from other kits or models,  but with only the louvre doors and driving cab windows needing starting from scratch...

I do not know what it was originally as the paintstripped superstructure is 25+ bits of plastic pacthed together.

But the paint job was really poor, the styrene strip for the panels and windows way overscale,  and there was lots of glue on the glazing, so it needed stripped back to basics with that one for the rebuild.

I'm more than happy to restore this as a project, and should have only mentioned it in passing as I was more wondering how I might complete one of the 3d printed shells for a second railcar and this was what I was finding the challenge.  Aye, my original post doesn't make this clear !

 

I have got a copy of of the Isinglass dwgs, (eyp.. 4/280) which is very helpful,  for Dia 97/96,  but what type were the bogies marked as 6'6" and 7'  on the dwg ?. Other underframe bits are  identifiably from the Isinglass dwg. 

Did Sentinel use one of the Fox variants, or some other type ?  

This is where my ignorance of the technical details really kicks in.. 

 

These shells have been noted in another thread as being very expensive, but the increasing price and scarcity of Nu cast kits on Ebay makes building from a shell look like a much more reasonable value for money option. 

 

There's a classic pic of a Sentinel crossing Durham viaduct which was one of the inspirations for me to get into LNER modelling, and both they and push-pull autocars have become special interests. Dunno quite why... 

 

The pushpulls are equally complex ..but that is quite another story !

 

 

[Andy Healey]

My NU Cast Sentinel with Tenshodo Motor Bogie has suddenly stooped working, I have seen some where that the Whitemetal Kit is too heavy for the Tenshodos and also the plastic gears break. Any ideas how to open the casing for investigation, there are no visible screws and I don't want to go prising away and break it further!

[Chas Levin]

1 hour ago, Andy Healey said:

My NU Cast Sentinel with Tenshodo Motor Bogie has suddenly stooped working, I have seen some where that the Whitemetal Kit is too heavy for the Tenshodos and also the plastic gears break. Any ideas how to open the casing for investigation, there are no visible screws and I don't want to go prising away and break it further!

Sorry to hear that Andy! I don't know how they dismantle - I have one but haven't looked at dismantling as yet - but can I ask, have you tried testing it on its own, with no load? Might the gears just be cogging or temporarily jammed?

[Bucoops]

May be of use - if it's the right ratio (not sure if Tenshodo used more than one) - last product on this page: https://tramfabriek.nl/motors.html

 

[micklner]

I had A Tenshodo Spud on my Sentinel , it  stripped the plastic gear in seconds twice due to the weight. at that point it went in the bin. The ones in the above link are still plastic, I doubt if they would last any longer?.

[Bucoops]

3 minutes ago, micklner said:

I had A Tenshodo Spud on my Sentinel , it  stripped the plastic gear in seconds twice due to the weight. at that point it went in the bin. The ones in the above link are still plastic, I doubt if they would last any longer?.

 

Probably not but would get it usable again for else - maybe an etched version? Or ebay :D